Prior to the present invention, latex paints containing clay as a pigment extender or containing calcium carbonate with clay impurities as the pigment extender, made it difficult to work with hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) or hydrophobically modified hydroxyethylcellulose (HMHEC) from an application point of view. These paints often showed a gel structure and drew threads when applied with a roller.
In waterborne emulsion paints, cellulose derivatives like hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC), methylhydroxyethylcellulose (MHEC), methylhydroxypropylcellulose (MHPC), ethylhydroxyethylcellulose (EHEC) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) are used as rheology modifiers. These cellulose ethers thicken latex paints, providing the paints with stability, water retention and a pseudoplastic flow behavior. The cellulose ethers are used in an amount of 0.1% w/w up to 4.0% w/w on total paint, depending on the binder content of the paint. Hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) and hydrophobically modified hydroxyethylcellulose (HMHEC) can be considered as the more popular types of cellulose ethers for use; clays are used as pigment extenders in emulsion paints in the United States while calcium carbonate is the most widely used type in European flat emulsion paint formulations, although in certain European areas, silicates and dolomites are used as well.
In paint systems containing hydrophilic clays, strong adsorption of HEC and HMHEC onto these clays occurs. This can affect the performance of the polymers in these paints dramatically. In distemper paints, which are often based on calcium carbonate containing clay impurities like montmorrillonite or bentonite, this results in a gelly paint structure. This gelly structure does not allow a good flow and application of the paint. For this reason, methylcellulose derivatives and carboxymethylcellulose are the preferred thickeners in these paints, since these cellulose ethers do not strongly absorb, so do not show the undesired gelation. Modification of HEC or HMHEC is needed in order to make them suitable for use as thickeners for clay containing flat emulsion paints. The above-described performance deficiencies of HEC and HMHEC as a result of their strong adsorption onto clay are also valid for ethylhydroxyethylcellulose (EHEC) and hydrophobically modified ethylhydroxyethylcellulose (HMEHEC). It is in meeting this need that the present invention provides an advance in the state of the art of the use of HEC, HMHEC, EHEC and HMEHEC as thickeners in emulsion paints containing hydrophilic clays or calcium carbonate extenders containing clay impurities.